Child's Killing Leaves Inevitable Question: Why?

When neighbors of the Somers woman accused of killing her child last weekend heard that the mother had tried to commit suicide a month earlier, their compassion turned to anger and left them questioning whether the death could have been prevented.

``I am thoroughly disgusted,'' said Cheri Curcio, who lives a few houses from where investigators say Kristin M. Anderson stabbed her 15-month-old son to death and lit him on fire.

``Nobody thinks that someone is going to murder someone. No one does,'' Curcio said. ``But you also know when someone is not with the program. You don't say, `Here's the keys to my car.'

``Now it's too late,'' added Curcio, the mother of two. ``I come from a place you don't wait.''

Whether there were signs that Anderson, 29, would commit such a crime is one of the difficult questions facing investigators and friends who are trying to unravel the events leading to the death of Zachary Meigs.

An incongruent picture is emerging. One is of a young woman who shined early as a talented writer, became the editor of the literary magazine at Palmer High School in Massachusetts, and earned honors grades in high school and at Westfield State College. Recently, she was so trusted that she was employed until May as a nanny. The other is of a woman charged with murder who sits under 24-hour suicide watch in the locked-down medical unit of York Correctional Center in Niantic. Her writings are now evidence, carried off by police following her son's death.

Possible warning signs that professionals and neighbors missed or ignored are among the things the state's Child Fatality Review Panel will examine in its investigation of the case, said Jeanne Milstein, the state's child advocate. By law, the panel must review every unexplained or unexpected fatality of a child, Milstein said.

``I just want to make sure that everybody who comes in contact with kids ... that they ask appropriate questions,'' she said. ``You can't prevent every tragedy from occurring, but we do the best we can.''

Not all experts agree.

``What so frustrates and saddens me about these cases is that they're preventable,'' said Michelle Oberman, a law professor at DePaul University in Chicago and co-author of a forthcoming book on mothers who kill their children. ``And there's always blood on more than one set of hands.''

Just over a month before Zachary was killed, Anderson told state police she tried to kill herself by driving a 1989 Chevy into a concrete road divider. After the crash, Anderson was taken to the Institute of Living, a psychiatric hospital in Hartford, and was committed.

It is unclear when Anderson was released from the hospital, but she and Zachary moved in with Lisa M. Trombly in Somers on June 17. While health professionals must report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect to the state Department of Children and Families, they are not mandated to report suicide attempts by a parent, Milstein said. Still, mental health professionals and police should assess whether a suicidal parent is capable of keeping the child safe, and to ensure that there are proper supports in place for the child, she said.

Lee Monroe, a spokeswoman at the Institute of Living, declined to discuss the specifics of the Anderson case, but said, ``All patients are discharged on an individual assessment that it is safe to do so. The determination is made by a team of mental health professionals led by a psychiatrist.''

It is not unusual for a mother who kills her child also to be suicidal, but not all suicidal mothers pose a danger to their children, experts say.

Studies have shown that ``women who ... understood their diagnosis -- clearly understood what it meant -- and were willing to seek and accept treatment ... corresponded with safe children,'' said Laura Miller, an assistant professor in the psychiatry department at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Anderson reportedly has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and it is unclear whether she suffered from some sort of postpartum disorder, such as depression, or psychosis, the more serious form of postpartum disorders. However, among women with bipolar tendencies, about 35 percent may suffer from postpartum psychosis if they do not receive proper treatment, Miller said.

Bipolar disorder, marked by severe mood swings between depression and mania, is not curable, but with the right treatment, usually lithium, a person can lead a normal life, said Beverly Walton, president of the Mental Health Association of Connecticut.

In severe cases, bipolar disorder can lead to psychotic episodes, Miller said.

Anderson grew up with promise in a Massachusetts neighborhood where residents of 20 years are newcomers and American flags are as common as above ground pools.

High school teachers and classmates in Palmer remember Anderson as a bright and talented woman who seemed likely to meet her 1990 yearbook promise of getting published and seeing the world.